Romania's election round 2 between anti-NATO and pro-West candidates

(CLO) The second round of the Romanian presidential election will take place between two candidates with different political stances, after Social Democratic Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu was unexpectedly eliminated.

In the first round of Romania's presidential election on November 24, far-right anti-NATO candidate Calin Georgescu won 22.94% of the vote, eliminating Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu from the race.

Mr Georgescu will face centre-right candidate Elena Lasconi, leader of the opposition Save Romania Union party, in the second round of the presidential election on 8 December.

The result was a surprise as pre-election polls had shown Mr Ciolacu as the frontrunner. He has resigned as leader of the Social Democratic Party (PSD) but will remain prime minister until the election is over.

The second round of the Romanian presidential election took place between an anti-Nato candidate and a politician supporting the West. — Prime Minister Ciolacu was eliminated after only coming in third place. Photo: AP

Mr Georgescu's unexpected lead in the election results came as a huge shock in Romania, as some pre-election polls showed he had won only about 5% of the vote.

Mr Georgescu is an anti-NATO critic who has called NATO’s ballistic missile defence shield in the Romanian town of Deveselu a “diplomatic embarrassment”. He has said NATO would not defend any of its members if they were attacked.

He also said Romania's best chance lay in "Russian wisdom", but declined to say whether he supported Russia.

Mr Georgescu said he was "completely committed" to the Romanian people. "We remain directly linked to European values, but we have to find (our own) values," he said.

He will face Ms Lasconi, leader of the centre-right opposition Save Romania Union party, who won 19.18% of the vote on 24 November.

Ms Lasconi has stressed her pro-Western stance, warning that Romania is now in a “historic confrontation between preserving Romania’s young democracy and those who want to bring Romania back into the Russian sphere of influence”.

Whoever wins the second round will replace the current president, Klaus Iohannis, a pro-Ukrainian liberal who has held the post since 2014.

Ngoc Anh (AP, Reuters)

Source: https://www.congluan.vn/vong-2-bau-cu-tong-thong-romania-dien-ra-giua-can-vien-chong-nato-va-chinh-tri-gia-ung-ho-phuong-tay-post322965.html